Nine-man Celtic slump to defeat against ruthless Feyenoord

Danny Lewis

Calvin Stengs celebrates after giving Feyenoord the lead before half-timeAFP

Feyenoord marked their return to the UEFA Champions League (UCL) group stages after six years with a 2-0 win over Celtic’s nine men, earning back-to-back victories in the competition after losing their previous 12.

Both teams will have been desperate to start their UCL campaign on a positive note, which resulted in plenty of attacking play full of intent and full-blooded tackles from the off.

Reo Hatate was gifted the match’s first two notable opportunities by lapses of concentration from the hosts, although his first attempt was easily saved by Timon Wellenreuther and Gernot Trauner was on hand to block the second.

Matthew O'Riley vies with Feyenoord's Quinten TimberAFP

Moments of sloppiness from both teams continued to go unpunished as the first half progressed. That was epitomised when Daizen Maeda got behind Quilindschy Hartman but saw his shot impressively tipped wide, before then falling asleep to afford the left-back the chance to drive forward and hit a strike that Gustaf Lagerbielke deflected wide.

However, the opener finally arrived in the second minute of first-half stoppage time when Calvin Stengs’ ambitious free-kick bent around Celtic’s frail wall, skipped off the turf, and evaded Joe Hart’s clutches.

Stengs once again sprung into life and slipped a ball through for Igor Paixão, who drew the foul from Lagerbielke that earned the Swede his second yellow, but then couldn’t convert from the penalty as he was outfoxed by Hart.

Calvin Stengs celebrates scoring a freekick to give Feyenoord the leadAFP

Things still got worse for Celtic just four minutes later with Odin Thiago Holm being shown a straight red for a high lunge on Mats Wieffer, although they remained one behind as Lutsharel Geertruida’s smart finish from the ensuing free-kick was ruled out for offside.

Feyenoord finally had their second in the 76th minute when Alireza Jahanbakhsh collected Alistair Johnston’s headed clearance and smashed the ball home.

That ensured that despite Ondřej Lingr seeing another goal disallowed for offside, Arne Slot’s side collected their fourth consecutive win across all competitions for the perfect start to their UCL campaign.

Celtic, meanwhile, suffered their second defeat in five, denting hopes of reaching the UCL knockout stages for the first time since 2012/13 after their Scottish League Cup exit.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Calvin Stengs (Feyenoord)